Pak-US-Afghan generals review border control

ISLAMABAD: The commander of Nato-led forces in Afghanistan met Pakistan and Afghanistan army chiefs on Sunday for talks on border security, almost six months after the US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Pak Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, US Gen John Allen and Afghan Army chief Gen Sher Muhammad Karimi led their respective delegations at talks on Sunday in Rawalpindi.

“The talks focused on border control measures, and mechanisms put in place to avoid untoward incidents on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border,” a military statement said.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the 35th meeting of tri-partite commission meeting was held at the GHQ.

A spokesman of the ISPR said that the Sunday talks focused on border control measures, and mechanisms put in place to avoid untoward incidents on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border. They also decided to watch the movement along the border while coordinating activities.

This was the first tripartite meeting after parliament submitted its recommendations pertaining to restoration of Nato supply and drone attacks.

According to Online news agency citing official sources, restoration of Nato supplies also came under discussion, and the Afghan and Isaf side agreed with the Pakistani side that it was for the government to decide about the restoration of supplies for Nato in Afghanistan. The meeting also decided to keep an eye on the movement along the border while coordinating activities.

Meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) has been called for Tuesday that could finalise the decision on restoration of the stalled supply. —Agencies

Reuters adds from Washington: The Taliban can be defeated militarily in Afghanistan but the job is not done, a key US senator said on Sunday, noting that the insurgents still control more than a third of the populated areas of the country and have a “safe harbour” in Pakistan.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told “Fox News Sunday” that Pakistan is key to defeating the Taliban in both countries and expressed frustration that Pakistan had failed to deprive them of a safe haven in the rugged mountain areas along its Afghan border.

“Militarily, I think the Taliban are not going to beat us,” she said. But the Taliban “have a safe harbour in Pakistan and the Pakistanis are doing nothing to abate that safe haven,” Feinstein said.

What “the Taliban has done is insinuate itself in a shadowy presence, with shadow governors. They controlled over a third of the land which people live. They expanded into the north, into the northeast,” Feinstein said.

“And while we were there in one province, they closed 14 schools in 17 districts and then they killed five education officials and wounded others,” she added.

“And now, there’s this latest assassination of someone who’s been a leader in the Peace Council,” she said.

“What this does is demonstrate to many of us that the Taliban are just waiting to come back” when US troops leave the country over the next few years, Feinstein said.

The Taliban “are taxing the poppy in the south to the tune of $125 million, which in 2011 — this is the United Nations figure — went to support their operations.”

“The question comes ‘can they come back?'” said Feinstein, who visited Afghanistan as part of a congressional team last month. She said Karzai had assured her he would not allow the Taliban to return to power.

Feinstein said assurance by the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, that the number of trained Afghan troops will reach 362,000 was “very positive”.